Grove Residents To Vote On Approving New Police And Fire Station

Voters in Grove will head to the polls in a few months to decide on whether to approve a new police and fire station.

City leaders said unlike the last election, funding for these new departments will put less of a burden on residents.

If approved, six tenths of a one percent sales tax collected city-wide will pay for new police and fire stations.

In the last bond that failed in September, citizens would have funded the new facilities entirely.

The city said the sales tax would be in place for 15 years, and it would look for other ways to help pay for the new departments.

Grove Police Chief Mark Morris said the facilities are estimated to cost $16.5 million.

He said the Grove Police Department moved into its current building in 1981 and said a new building would make a big difference for officers.

"One is the ability to expand our numbers. That’s primarily the biggest issues we have. As we continue to grow, we have to add on more personnel and we just don’t have room for that. But it also would have like a decontamination room in both police and fire," Morris said.

If approved, the new police department will be centrally located in Grove and is expected to improve response times.